Holy Family students win first place in international writing competition

Two students from a Rochester Hills-based Catholic school have won a writing competition, beating out participants from 36 states and 11 countries.

Holy Family Regional School eighth-grader Mary Semak and sixth-grader Mary Carthew won first place in their divisions in a spontaneous writing contest at the Future Problem Solving International Conference held at Indiana University earlier this month.

To qualify for the international competition, both students won first place in the state in the middle school and junior divisions respectively at the Michigan Future Problem Solving Writing Competition held at Michigan State University earlier this spring.

Participants for the international competition came from across the globe to partake in the competition and included writers from Switzerland, Australia, South Africa, India, and Hong Kong.

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Teams competed to compose an impromptu futuristic scenario based on this year's topic: the global status of women.

"I am very proud of these young women who have worked so hard to develop their writing skills," said Mary Nowak, talent development director for Holy Family Regional School. "It has been an exciting journey, watching them win first place at the state level and then at the world competition. The program affords young writers a platform to express and develop their talents and creativity."

The Future Problem Solving Program engages students in creative problem solving and encourages them to develop a vision for the future. They are challenged to devise solutions for issues that will be of global significance in 20 or more years from now.

The Future Problem Solving Program is one part of the talent development curriculum offered at Holy Family Regional School.